With intelligence and humor, debut male/male author M.K. York delivers an emotionally charged slow-burn romance set in a prestigious Bay Area teaching hospital

In the high-intensity world of hospital residency programs, there’s no room for romance. So it’s a good thing for first-year surgical resident Neil Carmona that his crush on the gorgeous cardiologist Eli Newcombe is sheer fantasy. Not only is the sexy doctor Neil’s superior, he’s also recently divorced.

As Neil’s skill as a surgeon grows, so does his friendship with Eli, and his silent, hopeless longing for more. It isn’t until Neil’s final year that Eli at last admits his own deepest desires. But Neil’s joy is short-lived: Eli has no intention of pursuing a relationship. Their positions in the hospital would make it unethical, even if he was emotionally ready for someone new.

Wounded and furious, Neil is determined to forget about Eli once and for all. But when a near-tragedy strikes, a new question arises: Is a life without love—without Neil—a greater risk than laying his heart on the line?

Why you should read it: Necessary Medicine is a stunning debut by M.K. York. It delves into the private and professional lives of doctors in a West Coast teaching hospital. If you enjoy TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy or the older series Scrubs, you will love this novel. Part medical drama, part romance, this is a sensational story that is enjoyable and exciting.

We follow Neil through his five years as a surgical resident, facing his doubts about his abilities as a doctor but more so as a human being trying to find a balance between work and life. Add to that, Neil is a gay man on the rebound after being rejected by his boyfriend, but develops an intense crush on one of the attending doctors. This is an infatuation that Neil absolutely cannot pursue for a number of reasons: Eli is heterosexual, he’s Neil’s superior, such a relationship is unethical, and he’s 12 years older.

Eli, an attending cardiologist, is recently divorced but seems on good terms with his ex-wife. However, he did leave his last hospital position because he couldn’t bear to be near her. Eli seems to have no interest in dating or even pursuing friendships. His work is his entire world, as he says and demonstrates all the time. Eli and Neil are not in the same field of medicine, but they see each other around the hospital and at meetings of an important committee both serve on.

The story has a number of settings, the hospital, infrequent social occasions at bars or restaurants, committee meetings and, as Neil progresses through the resident system, learning conventions. The reader has a choice as medical jargon is heavily used in the story: either ignore the terms you don’t know and wait for context to fill in meaning, or spend a lot of time on Google looking them up. I used a combination of the two, mostly allowing context to explain terms and acronyms. The author does a reasonably good job of clarifying terms that are important to the story and letting others slide.

There are a number of secondary characters, two of whom are critical to story and character development. Neil’s best friend, Mark, is also a resident and Neil’s mentor, Pete, is an attending doctor in the Radiology Department. It turns out Pete is a longtime friend of Eli. I loved the development of the main characters and their changes through time, especially Neil’s progress as a surgeon and how that affects his personality. M.K. York is not content to leave the character development to the main characters, however, and makes sure Mark and Pete are critical to the story and we know enough about their backstories to understand what’s motivating them. When both men are in peril due to different causes, it is up to Neil and Eli to try to do something about the situations. Whether they are successful or not, you will have to read the story to find out.

I had to read more slowly than I usually do, because of the difference in the terminology to the books I usually read for pleasure, but I could not put this book down. It was thrilling, highly entertaining, and when the romance sparks and bursts into heat, it becomes as scorchingly hot as any romance novel trying to achieve an HEA ending. Necessary Medicine is a book I highly recommend and hope you will find as enjoyable as I did.

Becky Condit is a widow, mother of three and grandmother of 10 who reads all kinds of books, but her go-to comfort books are romances. She reads and reviews more than 250 books a year, so you won’t often find her without her iPad in hand, but when you do, she’ll probably be gardening or spending time with her family.